Photo Courtesy of Borough President Richards
Borough President Richards said that the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act will “save lives and protect our communities from future storms.”
By Forum Staff
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr. joined with City Councilmembers Lincoln Restler (D-Brooklyn), James Gennaro (D-Hillcrest), Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn), Carmen De La Rosa (D-Manhattan), Jennifer Gutiérrez (D-Queens and Brooklyn), and Kevin Riley (D-Bronx) on Thursday to introduce a City Council resolution in support of the draft Climate Action Council Scoping Plan, calling on the Climate Action Council (CAC) and Gov. Kathy Hochul to fully implement the clean energy and zero greenhouse gas emissions reduction standards of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).
Three years after the historic passage of the CLCPA, which is nationally regarded for having the strongest greenhouse gas reduction requirements in the country, including a commitment for New York to achieve a net-zero carbon economy by 2050 and a 100 percent zero emission electric sector by 2040, the CAC is now holding statewide hearings at it prepares to develop a final scoping plan that will guide the regulatory, legislative, and budgetary actions the state will take in order to reach these goals. However, with powerful fossil fuel companies spending millions to undermine the state’s climate and environmental justice mandates, the future of the CLCPA and New York’s clean energy agenda is in jeopardy, the pols said.
The purpose of this legislative resolution, called “Climate Plan to Protect New York” is to demonstrate that the authoritative voice of the Council — as representatives of over 8 million city residents — is behind the full implementation of the CLCPA and to call on the CAC and Hochul to ensure that its clean energy, climate justice and climate change policy targets are met. In recent years, the council has passed climate laws, a ban on gas hookups in new buildings. This resolution calls for similarly forceful actions statewide.
With nearly 70 percent of New York City’s power being produced by fossil fuel combustion, and low-income and communities of color bearing an inequitable burden of pollution, the elected officials said that the introduction of this resolution is intended to send a loud message: Climate change is a clear and present threat to the health and sustainability of our communities and the state must keep its promise by meeting the clean energy goals of the CLCPA.
Resolution Key Provisions:
- Decarbonizing New York City’s building stock will require an aggressive push toward large-scale building electrification, and widespread equitable access to air source and geothermal heat pumps, and energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits;
- The Scoping Plan should include recommendations in support of all newly constructed buildings being all-electric by 2024, full electrification of building stock statewide, and the cessation of marketing and incentives for gas and fuel oil;
- No new or repowered fossil fuel power plants should be permitted in New York;
- The recommendations of the State’s Climate Justice and Just Transition Working Groups and frontline environmental justice leaders must be incorporated into the final recommendations for the Scoping Plan, including: year-by-year targets for transitioning to zero emissions electricity, widespread transportation electrification, and enhancement of transit, smart growth, and reduced vehicle miles traveled through bike and pedestrian infrastructure expansions.
“Fully implementing and funding the historic Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act will not only ensure New York’s place as a global leader on sustainability and renewable energy, it will save lives and protect our communities from future storms,” Richards said.
